▪ I. dock, n.1
(dɒk)
Forms: 1 docce, 4–5 dokke, dok, 4– dock.
[OE. docce, pl. and inflected sing. doccan; app. Common WGer. or OTeut.: cf. MDu. docke, in comb. docke-blaederen ‘petasites’, Ger. docken-blätter the common dock, ODa. ådokke = OE. éadocce water-dock; also OF. doque, doke, docque, mod.Norm. doque, the Patience dock or Monk's rhubarb. So Gael. dogha burdock.]
1. The common name of various species of the genus Rumex (family Polygonaceæ), coarse weedy herbs with thickened rootstock, sheathing stipules, and panicled racemes of inconspicuous greenish flowers. a. Without qualifying word usually the common dock (R. obtusifolius), well known as the popular antidote for nettle-stings.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 218 Sume betan oþþe doccan on ᵹeswettum wine seoþað. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xciii. (1495) 661 Al manere Dockys heele smytynge of Scorpions. 14.. Lat. & Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 602/1 Perdilla, a dokke. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 121 a, We have the great kinde of Dock, which the vnlearned toke for Rebarbe. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 52 Hatefull Docks, rough Thistles, Keksyes, Burres. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xvii. (1632) 876 Yet found no docke to rub out the smart. 1728 Swift Pastoral Dial. Wks. 1755 III. ii. 203 Cut down the dock, 'twill sprout again. 1879 Hesba Stretton Through Needle's Eye I. 60 The grounds and gardens..were overgrown with nettles and docks. |
b. With descriptive epithet: fiddle dock, from the shape of the leaves, R. pulcher; golden dock, R. maritimus; patience or passions dock, R. patientia; also locally applied to Polygonum bistorta; red dock, R. sanguineus; sharp or sour dock, R. acetosa, sorrel; swamp dock, R. verticillatus; water dock, R. hydrolapathum; white dock, R. salicifolius; yellow dock, R. crispus. Many species were already distinguished in OE.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 132 Herb. xxxiv, Wudu docce [MS. Harl. 5294 Sur docce]..Þas wyrte þe man lapatium & oðrum naman wudu docce nemneð. Ibid. II. 122 Þa fealwan doccan nær þa readan. Ibid. III. 304 Durh. Gloss., Oxilapathum, scearpe docce. c 1400 Test. Love iii. ix. (1532) 360 The frute of the soure docke. 1483 Cath. Angl. 103/1 A redi Dok, lappacium. 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 69 In english Waterdocke or sharpdocke. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. ix. 558 The sharpepoynted Docke or Patience, groweth in wette moyst medowes. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxxi. 387 Soure Docke called Sorrel. 1601 Holland Pliny xix. vi. (R.), The root of the hearb patience or garden docke..is knowne to run downe in the ground three cubits deepe. |
2. Also in the popular names of other coarse plants of similar habit, as dove dock, coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara); round dock, common mallow (Malva sylvestris); spatter dock, yellow pond-lily (Nuphar advena); velvet dock, mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Also burdock, can-dock, elf-dock, etc.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 136 Nimphea, eadocca. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 27 The great, common round Dock, which many People cultivate. |
3. phr. in dock, out nettle: orig. a charm uttered to aid the cure of nettle-stings by dock-leaves; † hence, in allusion to the full phrase used, a proverbial expression for changeableness and inconstancy (obs.).
The charm to be repeated during the rubbing process is ‘Nettle in, dock out, Dock in, nettle out, Nettle in, dock out, Dock rub nettle out’ (N. & Q. Ser. i. III. 133).
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 433 (461) But kanstow pleyen raket to and fro, Netle In, dokke out, now this now þat, Pandare? a 1553 Udall Royster D. ii. iii. (Arb.) 34, I can not skill of such chaungeable mettle, There is nothing with them but in docke out nettle. 1623 Middleton More Dissemblers iv. i. 233 Is this my in dock, out nettle? a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. 391 (N.) Off and on, fast or loose, in docke, out nettle, and in nettle, out docke. 1715 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Wks. 430 They had been in Dock out Nettle above forty and forty Times. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as dock-leaf, dock-root; also dock-bur, the flower-head of the burdock; dock-cress, nipplewort (Lapsana communis); dock-fork, -iron, a tool for digging out the roots of docks; dock-nettle, the lesser stinging nettle (Urtica urens); dock-sorrel, the sour dock, (Rumex acetosa); dock-worm, a grub found on docks, used as a bait by anglers.
| 1632 Sherwood, The *dock-burre or burre-docke, Bardane. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 55 The sea-egg..nearly resembles a dock-burr. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. xvi. (1633) 255 *Docke Creeses is a wilde wort or pot herbe. |
| 1850 Beck's Florist Feb. 39 Eradicating this weed with a small instrument like a *dock-fork. |
| 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 389 The root must be completely taken out by the *dock-iron. |
| 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. ii. (R.), He suckt it with his mouth..and softly gan it binde With *dock-leaves. |
| c 1265 Voc. Plants in Wr.-Wülcker 557/39 Dormentille, i. ortie griesche, i. *docnettle. |
| 1886 M. Linskill Haven under Hill in Good Words 301 The *dock-sorrel stood with its maroon spires in the air. |
| 1653 Walton Angler iv. 95 The Flagworm, the *Dockworm, the Oakworm. |
▪ II. dock, n.2
(dɒk)
Forms: 4 dok, 6–7 docke, 6– dock.
[Identical with mod.Icel. dockr short stumpy tail (Haldorssen). Ulterior etymology obscure. Cf. Fris. dok bundle, bunch, ball (of twine, straw, etc.), LG. dokke bundle (of straw, thread), skein of yarn, mod.G. docke bundle, skein, plug, peg.]
1. The solid fleshy part of an animal's tail.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 193 Þe tayl..bounden bothe wyth a bande of a bryȝt grene, Dubbed wyth ful dere stonez, as þe dok lasted. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 352 Asses haue the said docke or rumpe longer than horses. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xvii. 150 We conjecture the age of Horses from joynts in their dockes. 1856 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 59 Hips wide, and rumps and docks good. |
2. a. A piece of leather harness covering the clipped tail of a horse. b. The crupper of a saddle or harness; see also quot. 1874.
| c 1340 [see prec.]. 1617 Markham Caval. v. 31 You shall buckle on his breastplate and his crooper..then you shall lace on his saker or docke. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Dock, in the manege, is used for a large case of leather..which serves it [the tail] for a cover. The French call the Dock, troussequeue. 1787 Grose Provinc. Gloss., Dock, a crupper to a saddle. Devon. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Dock..the divided piece forming part of the crupper, through which the horse's tail is inserted. 1888 W. Somerset Word-bk. Dock, the crupper of either saddle or harness. |
† 3. transf. of human beings: The rump, buttocks. Obs.
| 1508 Kennedy Flyting w. Dunbar 484 A rottyn crok, louse of the dok. 1684 Frost of 1683–4, 22 One's heels fly up, and down he's on his dock. |
† b. The skirts or ‘tails’ of clothes. Obs.
| 1522 World & Child in Hazl. Dodsley I. 247, I will not go to school..For there beginneth a sorry feast, When the master should lift my dock. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. xxvii, The drier, the les maidens dablith their dockes. |
† 4. The fleshy part of a boar's chine between the middle and the buttock. Obs.
| 1678 in Phillips. Thence in later Dicts. |
† 5. The poop or stern of a ship. Obs. rare.
| c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 108 She bare many canons..two behind in her dock. 1570 Levins Manip. 158/13 Dock of a ship, puppis. |
6. A cut end of anything, e.g. of hair, (?) of a tree-trunk (Tusser); a stump; an end cut off. Now dial.
| 1573 Twyne æneid x. Dd iij b, His heare down shadowing shed, but gold embroyding bynds their docks. 1573 Tusser Husb. xvii. (1878) 37 For chimney in winter, to burne vp their docks. 1755 Johnson, Dock, the stump of the tail, which remains after docking. 1892 Baring-Gould Strange Survivals v. 112 [To] prevent..the red-hot dock [of a wick] from spluttering on to the carpet. |
† 7. [f. dock v.1] The act of cutting off; amputation. Obs.
| 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 133 The amputation and dock of one member forces the bloud. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Dock, Docking, in law, a means or expedient for cutting off an estate tail. |
▪ III. dock, n.3
(dɒk)
Forms: 6 dok, 6–7 docke, 6– dock.
[Found early in 16th c., also in 16th c. Du. docke, mod.Du. dok. From Du. and Eng. it has passed into other langs., Da. docke, Sw. docka, mod.Ger. dock, docke, mod.F. dock, in 1679 doque. Ulterior origin uncertain.
It has been variously compared with rare Icel. dökk, dökð pit, pool, Norw. dokk hollow, low ground, med.L. doga ditch, canal (Du Cange), Gr. δοχή receptacle. See Skeat, E. Müller; also Grimm, and Diez s.v. Doga.]
† 1. The bed (in the sand or ooze) in which a ship lies dry at low water; the hollow made by a vessel lying in the sand. Obs.
| 1513 Douglas æneis x. vi. 22 Lat euery barge do prent hyr self a dok. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 35 Graunt foorth thy warrant in docks oure nauye too settle [L. liceat subducere classem]. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. i. i, A wet docke is any place where you may hale in a ship into the oze out of the tides way, where shee may docke her selfe. 1633 T. James Voy. 80 Shee at a high water would fleet in her docke, though she were still dockt in the sands, almost foure foot. |
† 2. (Apparently) A creek or haven in which ships may lie on the ooze or ride at anchor, according to the tide. Obs.
| 1538 Leland Itin. I. 53 Robyn Huddes Bay, a Dok or Bosom of a Mile yn lenghth. 1579–80 North Plutarch (1656) 536 When he had taken them [the pyrates ships] he brought them all into a Dock. |
† 3. A trench, canal, or artificial inlet, to admit a boat, etc. Obs.
(Sense in first quot. doubtful.)
| 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham) 45 A chest bored full of holes..placed in a dock prepared for it..Herein were fish kept. 1648 Gage West Ind. 40 The Dock or Trench being thus finished, the Vergantines were calked. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. ix, I..resolv'd to cut a Dock, or Canal, to bring the Water up to the Canoe. |
4. a. An artificial basin excavated, built round with masonry, and fitted with flood-gates, into which ships are received for purposes of loading and unloading or for repair.
dry dock or graving dock, a narrow basin into which a single vessel is received, and from which the water is then pumped or let out, leaving the vessel dry for the purpose of repair. (Sometimes also used for building ships.) wet dock, a large water-tight enclosure in which the water is maintained at the level of high tide, so that vessels remain constantly afloat in it. floating dock, a large floating structure that can be used like a dry dock.
| 1486 Naval Accts. Hen. VII (1896) 23 About the bringing of the same ship into her dokke. 1488 Ibid. 26 Keping the said Ship at Erith in her dokke. 1495 Ibid. 137 The Reparalyng, fortifying, and amendyng the dokke for the Kynges shippes at Portesmouth, makyng of the gates, & fortifying the hede of the same dokke. 1552 Huloet, Docke where shippes be layed vp and made, nauale. 1569 T. Stocker tr. Diod. Sic. ii. xxiv. 76 Antigone..likewise caused iii mightie Docks to be cut out to build the sayd shippes in. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Astillero, a docke to build ships in, nauale. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. i. 1 A Docke is a great pit or creeke by a harbour side..with two great floud-gates built so stronge and close, that the Docke may be dry till the ship be built or repaired..and this is called a dry Docke. 1661–2 Pepys Diary 25 Jan., Sir N. Crisp's project of making..about Deptford..a wett-dock to hold 200 sail of ships. 1758 Descr. Thames 268 Docks are small Harbours cut into the Land. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 344 Her endless docks, quays, and warehouses are among the wonders of the world. 1868 Daily News 2 Sept., Mr. Campbell's..plan of an iron floating dry dock. |
| fig. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. viii. (1851) 297 He must cut out large docks and creeks into his text to unlade the foolish frigate of his unseasonable autorities. |
b. transf. with preps., in (or out of, etc.) dock, in hospital, undergoing treatment; (of a vehicle) laid up for repairs. colloq.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v. Dock, He must go into dock, a sea phrase, signifying that the person spoken of, must undergo a salivation. 1848 in Amer. Speech (1935) X. 40/1 Hauled into dock, sick at home. 1919 Athenæum 11 July 582/2 ‘Dock’, hospital, is..probably from ‘in dock’. Ibid. 22 Aug. 791/2 While ‘in dock’ (i.e. in hospital) one lay upon ‘biscuits’. 1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air i. i. 11 The old car..was temporarily in dock. 1960 News Chron. 16 Feb. 6/5 He's just out of dock after the old appendix. 1963 ‘R. East’ Pin Men ii. 52 If Father's car hadn't been in dock. |
c. In full scene-dock (see scene 13).
| 1898 Sachs & Woodrow Mod. Opera Houses III. Suppl. i. 24 At each side of the stage the counterweight boxes practically form enclosing walls with a number of openings leading to a series of ‘scene’ docks on each side. The arrangement of these side docks..is essentially of French origin, and they afford a very ready means for the disposal of scenery which has to be quickly removed from the stage. Ibid. 34 There is a dock for each sequence of ‘traps’, so that the ‘wings’ belonging to each ‘entrance’ can always be kept in the dock opposite it. 1952 W. Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 158 Scene-dock, usually shorted, by stage carpenters, to dock. A stowage space at the back, or side, of the stage. |
5. (Often pl.) a. A range of dock-basins (sense 4 a) together with the adjoining wharfs, warehouses and offices (commercial docks). b. The whole establishment of similar basins and adjoining work-shops, etc., concerned with the building, outfit, and repair of ships; a dockyard (naval docks).
| 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3912/2 Timber..for the use of her Majesty's Dock at Plimouth. 1770 Wesley Jrnl. 12 Oct., I walked round the Dock [at Portsmouth], much larger than any other in England. 1848 Dickens Dombey ix, Captain Cuttle lived..near the India Docks. 1875 Jowett Plato III. 698 The docks were full of triremes and naval stores. |
6. Railways. An enclosure in a platform into which a single line of rails runs and terminates.
7. attrib. and Comb., as dock-boot, dock-constable, dock-head, dock-house, dock-labourer, dock-man, dock-side, dock-sill, dock-space, dock-trade, dock-warehouse, etc.; also dock-company, the company or corporate body owning a dock; dock-charges, dock-dues, charges made for the use of a dock; dock-glass, a large wine-glass originally designed for wine-tasting; dock-master, the superintendent or manager of a dock; dock-port, a port that has a (naval) dock; dock-rent, the charge made for warehousing goods in a dock; † dock-silver (Sc.), dock-dues; dock-walloper (U.S.), a casual labourer engaged at docks and wharfs; dock-warrant, a certificate given to the owner of goods warehoused in a dock. Also dockyard.
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 10 Sea Boots, *Dock Boots. |
| 1891 Daily News 28 Dec. 3/6 The deceased..was seen safely aboard the vessel by a *dock constable. |
| 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 44/2 Amount of *Dock Dues. |
| 1920 G. Saintsbury Notes on Cellar-Book i. 9 The large, slightly pinched-in ‘*dock-glass’, half filled, suited it as indeed it does almost any wine. 1953 Word for Word (Whitbread & Co.) 18/1 Dock glass, a goblet holding exactly a quarter of a pint, used originally by Excise Officers for wine tasting in the docks. |
| 1497 Naval Accts. Hen. VII (1896) 143 The dokke, the *dokke hedde & gates of the same. 1657 Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1877) II. 142 To sett up a building att the west end of the house..by the dock head. 1736 Ibid. (1885) XII. 139 The Watch House at the Dockhead. 1880 Times 17 Dec. 5/6 The Hartlepool..in entering dock struck the dockhead. |
| 1661 Pepys Diary 10 Apr., In the morning, to see the *Dock-houses. |
| 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 59 *Dock-labourers..are simply strong men without any particular skill. |
| 1755 B. Martin Misc. Corr. Oct. 171 Orders..that he should..form the *Dockmen into a Regiment. |
| 1736 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 146 Mr. Steers the *Dockmaster. |
| 1758 M.P.'s Let. on R.N. 42 Wages may be paid..at any *Dock-Port. |
| 1887 Times 25 Aug. 4/5 [They] arrived at the *dockside. |
| 1858 Merc. Marine Mag. V. 174 The *dock sill is 3 feet 6 inches above low water-mark. |
| 1641 Stirling Charters (1884) 151 (Jam. Suppl.) Heavin silver et *dock silver. |
| 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., *Dock walloper, a loafer that hangs about the wharves. New York. 1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 15 Oct., Dockwollopers are paid 40 to 45 cents an hour. |
| 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 207 The holder of a *dock-warrant has a prima-facie claim to the..hogsheads of sugar, or other packages named thereon. |
Add: [5.] c. Usu. in sing. A wharf or pier; a quay. orig. U.S.
| 1817 N.Y. Herald 20 Aug. 2/2 He left town at 1 o'clock in the morning of the same day, in charge of a friend, who waked him up previous to the packet reaching the dock at Sing-sing. 1856 X. D. MacLeod Biogr. F. Wood 193 Substantial stone or iron docks and piers should be constructed which would not only be durable, but in the result far more economical than those now in use. 1922 E. O'Neill Anna Christie iii. 160 Guess I'll take a walk down to the end of the dock for a minute and see what's doing. I love to watch the ships passing. 1943 N.Y. Times 29 Sept. 20/4 With us a dock is what the British call a wharf. With them a dock is the body of water enclosed within wharves, the thing we call a basin. 1972 Evening Telegram (St. John's, Newfoundland) 27 June 3/7 The United States Coast Guard cutter Winnibago rammed into the dock bow first. |
[6.] b. A raised platform from which lorries or railway trucks are loaded and unloaded. N. Amer.
| 1918 S. V. Norton Motor Truck as Aid to Business Profits viii. 127 It is adapted to packing the truck at all depths, and the shipper does not have to carry the material any further than to the edge of the dock. 1930 Western Truck Owner Oct. 28/2 The freight depot of the White Motor Express..is a building 100 feet wide and 125 feet deep... On the first floor are the loading docks and a minor repair department. 1952 B. F. Conroy Motor Freight Workshop viii. 102 In a fork-lift-truck operation, the dock plates that are used to bridge the tailgate of the truck with the dock are most important. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 31/9 (Advt.), City ground floor 9,000 sq. ft. can be divided... Truck level dock and grade level. |
▪ IV. dock, n.4
(dɒk)
[The same word as Fl. dok rabbit-hutch, fowl-pen, cage; ‘Docke = keuie, renne,’ i.e. cage, fowl-pen, fowl-run (Kilian). In Eng. prob. at first a word of rogues' cant.
Used by Warner and Ben Jonson 1586–1610; but an unknown word to Jonson's editors, Whalley 1756, Gifford 1816. Absent from the 18th c. dictionaries, and from Todd, Webster 1828, Richardson; and after 1610, known to us only in bail-dock, till the 19th c., in which it has become familiar, largely through the writings of Dickens.]
1. The enclosure in a criminal court in which the prisoner is placed at his trial: it was formerly filled with the prisoners whose trial was put down for the day. Cf. bail-dock.
| 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. iii. xviii, Sterne Minos and grim Radymant discend their duskie roomes, The docke was also Cleare of Gosts, adiorn'd to after-doomes. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. v. iv, Here will be officers, presently; bethinke you, Of some course sodainely to scape the dock: For thether you'll come else. 1824 Ann. Reg. LXVI. 40 The prisoner, after receiving the congratulations of several of his friends, bowed, and retired from the dock. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xliii, A dirty frowsy room..with a dock for the prisoners on the left hand. 1882 W. Ballantine Exper. xliii. 396 [He] had to appear and surrender into the dock. |
| attrib. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xliii, A jailer stood reclining against the dock-rail. |
2. Special Comb.: dock brief, a brief handed direct to a barrister in court, who has been selected by a prisoner, standing in the dock, to defend him. (Cf. docker3.)
| 1909 Daily Chron. 30 Apr. 6/7 The ‘dock brief’..is the only exception to the rule that briefs must come through a solicitor. 1928 Daily Tel. 10 Jan. 9 Barristers who are not anxious to accept dock briefs are entitled to leave the court on hearing a prisoner ask for one. |
▪ V. dock, v.1
(dɒk)
[f. dock n.2]
1. trans. a. To cut short in some part, esp. in the tail, hair, or similar appendage; to curtail.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 590 His tope was doked lyk a preest biforn. 1408 Will of de Brugge (Somerset Ho.), Equum meum nigrum dokkede. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 125/2 Dockyd by þe tayle, decaudatus. 1564 Becon Early Wks. Gen. Pref. (1843) 7 Admitting him unto the ministry..without docking, greasing, shaving. 1673 E. Brown Acc. Trav. 72 They have very good Horses..but they never dock them, but their tayls grow out at length. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xxxvi. 256 His horses are not docked: their tails are only tied up. 1813 Sporting Mag. XLI. 60 He related..his docking a defaulter in payment..He..cut off his long hair close to the scalp. |
b. spec. To shorten (the tail of a horse, dog, etc.) by cutting off one or more of the extreme caudal vertebræ. Also absol.
| 1419 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 78 note, Y wolde breke his Sege, and make hem of Roon dokke hys tayle. 1530 Palsgr. 523/2 Docke your horse tayle, and make hym a courtault. 1778 Johnson 3 Apr. in Boswell, His tail then must be docked. That was the mark of Alcibiades's dog. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) I. 494 The barbarous custom of docking the tails..is in this country very prevalent. 1876 A. Cary Country Life 189 I'm a going to..learn to nick and dock. |
2. transf. and fig. a. To cut short or abridge by taking away a part; to lessen, curtail, subject to limitation in some respect; to deprive, divest of († from) some part or appendage.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 180 Þei docken Goddis word, and tateren it bi þer rimes. c 1422 Hoccleve Jereslaus' Wife 541 If thow fynde þat I gabbe, Of my promesse thanne dokke me. 1693 W. Freke Sel. Ess. xix. 109 Docking it [learning] from its superfluous Pedantry. 1771 T. Jefferson Lett. Writ. 1892 I. 387 Dock the invoice of such articles as..I may get in the country. 1871 Browning Pr. Hohenst. 1374 Dock, by the million, of its friendly joints, The electoral body short. 1889 Spectator 26 Oct., Wages..will be pretty sharply docked by rent. 1892 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) LV. 335/1 A participial adjective docked of its termination. |
b. To make a deduction from (a person's pay) as a fine, subscription, etc.; also with the person as object. colloq. (orig. dial.).
| 1822 Cobbett Weekly Reg. 13 Apr. 81 Hence arose numerous schemes for docking you in this quarter. 1891 C. Wordsworth Rutland Words. s.v., Mr. A― has docked his men as last Saturday, I suppose. 1891 Harper's Mag. Nov. 888/2 Each man was ‘docked’, or charged, seventy-five cents a month for medical services. 1901 Merwin & Webster Calumet ‘K’ vii. 128 Every man that drops anything into the bins gets docked an hour's pay. Ibid., I guess we won't take the trouble to dock you. 1937 V. Bartlett This is my Life xi. 170, I should find my salary docked or stopped altogether. |
3. To cut away, cut off; also = dag v.1 3.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 430 Þei wolden teche sum & sum hide & docke sum [of God's law]. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes II. 45, I see you have shaven the mustachios off..I thought I had best dock them. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Dock, to cut off the wool clotted with dung from around a sheep's tail. |
4. Law. to dock the entail: to cut off or put an end to the entail; to break the prescribed line of succession to an estate; also fig.
| a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law (1635) 47 These notable Statutes..do dock intailes. 1723 Steele Consc. Lovers iii, He could not dock the entail. 1854 Lowell Jrnl. in Italy Pr. Wks. 1890 I. 124 A poor relation whose right in the entail of home traditions has been docked by revolution. |
Hence ˈdocking vbl. n.; also attrib.
| 1727–51 [see dock n.2 7]. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece iii. 449 So many Horses die with Docking. 1865 Youatt Horse xxii. (1872) 466 The veterinary surgeon with his docking-machine cuts through the tail at one stroke. |
▪ VI. dock, v.2
(dɒk)
[f. dock n.3]
† 1. trans. To bring or put (a ship) into station or anchorage in a roadstead, etc. Obs.
| 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 29 Now are they..sparcled abrode, Lyke wyse as shyppes be docked in a rode. 1615 Trade's Incr. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 296 Two more [ships] are docked up there, as pinnaces, to trade up and down. |
† 2. To bring or put (a vessel) ashore where it may rest in the ooze, or in some trench, or creek: cf. dock n.3 1. Obs.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 27 And see my wealthy Andrew dockt [early edd. docks] in sand. 1627, 1633 [see dock n.3 1]. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 81 To weigh Ship..that hath not lain too long, and docked it self in Oaze. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins xv, When I had docked my boat, I would accompany her. [Cf. xii, I sought for a convenient place to stow my boat in..Having pitched upon a swampy place..I soon cut a trench from the lake.] |
3. a. To take, bring, or receive (a ship) into a dock (in the modern sense); cf. dock n.3 4.
| 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 376 Arsenals, or places for the building, repairing, docking, and harbouring of..gallies. 1662 Pepys Diary 21 July, We..saw the manner and trouble of docking such a ship. 1795 Hull Advertiser 3 Oct. 1/4 A grand dock-yard..sufficient to dock and re-fit 30 sail of the line. 1861 Sat. Rev. 14 Dec. 608 A British man-of-war was lying there waiting to be docked. |
b. intr. (for refl.) To come into dock.
| 1892 Daily News 4 Nov. 3/1 Water..must be pumped out before she can dock. |
4. trans. To furnish or lay out with docks.
| 1757 W. Smith Hist. New York 187 The Ships lie off in the Roads, on the East Side of the Town, which is docked out. 1861 Sat. Rev. 14 Dec. 615 The cutting of the..Caledonian Canal, the docking of London and Liverpool. |
5. trans. To join (a space vehicle) to another in space; also intr., to become joined. Const. with. Freq. as docking vbl. n. Hence docked ppl. a.3
| 1951 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. X. 299 The idea of ‘docking’ a spaceship inside..a space-station is suicidal lunacy. 1960, etc. [see docking vbl. n. below]. 1961 W. Schroeder Terminal Guidance Scheme for Docking Satellites (Amer. Rocket Soc. Paper 1952–61) 5/1 While such a solution requires the minimum expenditure of fuel, it is unsatisfactory because of the time required to dock. 1969 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 1/2 Tass did not say whether an airlock connection allowed the crew to move from one docked capsule to the other, internally. 1969 Guardian 22 July 1 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin soared up and away from the moon's surface to dock with the command module. 1971 Times 26 Apr. 1/6 Soyuz 10 was docked with Salyut at 02.47 B.S.T. yesterday. |
Hence ˈdocking vbl. n.; also attrib.
| 1600 [see 3 a above]. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 28 Their Ransackings, Groundings, Dockings, and Repairings. 1799 Nelson 12 Sept. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) IV. 11 The Seahorse..requires docking. 1886 Law Times LXXX. 284/1 [She] carried the usual docking signal of two bright lights aft. 1960 A. W. Nelson in Amer. Rocket Soc. Paper No. 1493–60. 9/1 The two are in essentially identical orbits and only a few hundred feet or so apart. Now the final ‘parking’ or ‘docking’ must be accomplished. 1961 W. Schroeder Terminal Guidance Scheme for Docking Satellites (Amer. Rocket Soc. Paper 1952–61) 1/1 It appears extremely likely that in the very near future a number of missions will require the docking of two vehicles in space. Ibid. 2/2 The propulsion system consists of two canted engines on the aft or docking end..and a single main engine on the nose. 1962 K. W. Gatland Astronautics in Sixties xi. 344 Although initially radar and other homing devices may be relied upon to achieve linkage of the spacecraft,..experiments will be performed..to see if manual control of the docking procedure is possible. 1965 New Scientist 23 Dec. 851/2 Five such rendezvous and docking experiments in space are planned in 1966. 1966 Times 6 June 1/6 The target satellite's protective shroud hanging on to the docking collar. 1971 Ibid. 21 June 1/2 If his background is in docking, that is an expert in the orbital problems of bringing the space station and the module together at a certain time and place, he will be invaluable. |
▪ VII. dock, v.3 Biscuit-making.
[Origin unknown.]
trans. To pierce (a biscuit) with holes.
| 1840 [Remembered as the term in regular use. G. Palmer.] 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts I. 343 The biscuit was then docked, that is, pierced with holes by an instrument adapted to the purpose. Ibid. 346 A stamping and docking frame..The stamps or cutters in the frame being internally provided with prongs..dock the cakes, or cut pieces, with a series of holes, for the subsequent escape of the moisture, which, but for these vents, would distort and spoil the cake or biscuit when put in the oven. |
▪ VIII. dock, v.4 nonce-wd.
[f. dock n.4]
trans. To place (a prisoner) in the dock.
| 1895 Pall Mall G. 2 Dec. 2/3 They [jury] did so on Saturday at Riom, when and where a lady was docked for disposal. |